Manicured Nails and Timbered Arrows
by radtastiical
Summary: Two lonely souls find comfort in one another as they did in the past. But there's always a reason why the past always finds a way to repeat itself. Starts as RainyRook, ends with MadArcher
1. Chapter 1

_Alone_.

They had both been brought into two different worlds, both destined for two different types of greatness.

Both knowing pain, knowing what it was like to long for something they could never have.

A father's touch.

A mother's love.

One descended into darkness. The other fell into madness.

They had met in their past lives, it was destiny that they would meet in this life too.

XX

Wanderer. Vagabond. Homeless. Street rat. The names were meant to dissuade her, to make her think she was the lowest creature on the planet.

But too bad for them, the names didn't do anything but lift her up higher, make her stronger, and show her exactly how the world worked.

Sure, she had been alone, she had nothing or no one, but she never let it discourage her.

Even if she were the last person living in the streets, she would always make the most of it to see the best in people.

Tilly could read other people like a book. She could see into the depths of their soul, even when she barely knew who they were.

And Ivy Belfrey was no exception.

The homeless woman could tell the well put together woman was hurting, watched her as she left Belfrey towers late at night after everyone went home (Tilly had pulled a watch out of her pocket and noted it was 2 in the morning); watched her pull a handkerchief out of her purse to dab at her eyes that had welled with tears. She watched as the woman pulled up to her loft, jammed her finger into the '5' button on the elevator and stepped out of the box to unlock her door, trying not to slam it shut. A light turned on, but the silhouette on the wall was of a figure sliding down the wooden door.

_She must not have a single friend in the world…_the woman thought, walking back to the troll statue she had always resided at, not having anywhere else in the world to go, feeling as if she were trapped herself.

She laughed and laid back to gaze at the stars. _But then again…neither do I. I mean, I have the troll and my drawing pad, and sometimes Weaver, but…_

She hated when negativity shot through her mind making her contemplate her entire being. It wasn't fair, seeing people on the streets holding hands and laughing with one another. Parents with their children, friends in a meaningful conversation, lovers in an embrace that she had never experienced once in her life. She felt as if she were the scourge of the earth in her tattered clothes and jacket that was too big for her slim frame. It made her wonder if this world were too big yet too miniscule for the existence of someone like her.

_Alone._

_But…_

_Maybe not._

_Maybe she just needs a friend as badly as I do._

_Maybe I could try._

XX

Drizella Tremaine was a trickster. A user. A person who couldn't care less about anyone else but herself.

She had casted the dark curse, had made sure that everyone who had looked down upon her, who let her down would know the true meaning of suffering.

Ivy Belfrey was-

_A failure._

The words echoed in her mind as she slid down the frame of her door, face buried in her hands.

_You're a failure, dear. You're only good for two things: doing as I say and rotting in the ground. And even then, you're taking too much space in this world._

Ivy Belfrey was the woman who let her mother control her, another life, another time, same Drizella.

She was a woman that let her mother tow her car because she felt as if it were beneficial for the young woman to learn what it was like to have come from nothing. A woman who still waited around her mother's beck and call just to have the luxury of saying she actually did something right for the woman; to receive her praise for the first time.

_And yet, your mother is the type of person who would get Ana a limo with a chauffeur and driver so she never would have to plant her feet on the ground again…_

She stood up and walked over to her hidden liquor cabinet to pour herself a glass of wine. She caught a glimpse of herself in a passing mirror; mascara lined her face where she had been unable to stop the tears, hair matted from frequent stress caused by her mother. She looked like a shell of her former self, a shell of the person who was able to rip out hearts and deceive princes.

The mirror made a shattering sound as she tossed her glass into it, letting out a silent scream.

She wanted her mother's suffering, she reminded herself. But the cost was too much. The price of constantly being under mother's scrutiny was too much.

_Close your eyes…_ A voice whispered in the back of her mind.

_Close your eyes and picture your mother's destruction. It's too late to give up now, my sweet Ivy._

She cleaned up the glass and pool of dark liquid on the floor, deciding she was in too deep now to turn back.

"Just a little while longer. Just a little longer, mother, and you'll learn what true pain really is."

XX

The next day, true to her personal vow, Tilly tried her best to improve the day of the woman with the plastered-on scowl.

Ivy's apartment wasn't far from where the blonde usually resided, so she was able to get a decent idea of what her schedule was going to be like. Right on time, the woman walked out of the building of her loft and onto the street towards Belfrey Towers.

That's when the woman decided to make her move

She ran over to Ivy's side, holding up a skeleton watch. The inner mechanisms of objects had always excited Tilly, and when she was able to grasp hold of the rare and impossible, she rarely let it go.

"Did you know time moves forward while the gears turn backwards?" She asked the woman, who glanced over at her with a disgusted sneer.

"Right, and I bet you're going to tell me that stolen watches really are worth double the profit because of the risk you take to get them. I have somewhere to be, and I don't have time to feed the homeless."

But the comment didn't shy Tilly away. In fact, it only made her feel sorry for the woman, having to resort to such snide tactics in order to push someone away. "Homeless? Why have one bed when you can have many?!" Her lips curled into a smile and her grip on the watch tightened, arms splayed outward towards the sky. "Not many people can say they have the chance to see the stars while everyone else is sound asleep!"

"I'd rather sleep in a comfy bed than a dirt infested ground, but you wouldn't know anything about that, would you?"

"Money doesn't equal love, Miss Belfrey. You don't have to be so rude, I just thought you would enjoy some light conversation."

Ivy's mouth opened, then closed, then her smirk fell into a scowl. "Even if, _if_, I did decide to step away from my peace and quiet for a second, why would I want to talk to a street urchin like you? Unless you have something to say that's actually worth my time, I suggest you go back to that bench you call a home and leave me alone."

Tilly's consistent smile dropped for a moment and she gave a soft nod. She wasn't stupid. She knew defeat and wasn't going to continue an effort that had been deemed pointless. "Okay. You made your point. Goodbye Miss Belfrey. Sorry for wasting your time."

Ivy watched the blonde woman turn and walk away. She had made it only a few steps towards her destination before guilt began to eat at her and she went over the conversation in her head.

"Wait!"

But when she turned around, the blonde was lost in the crowd, probably already far away from someone wretched like her.

XX

Mother had asked her to run errands again.

Or, as she recalled, told her to "bring me frost black tea leaves and don't come back until you find it". When Ivy had dared to ask how she was supposed to find such a rare item, (and without a car at that) her mother sneered at her and rolled her eyes.

"Well, since you're so skilled at using your phone all day when you're supposed to be working, I'm sure it shouldn't be a problem for you at all."

She had stormed out of her mother's office, fed up with her micromanaging attitude, searching for all the tea shops she could find, knowing her mother had probably sent her on a search for the impossible item just to get rid of her daughter's presence.

She had been walking back to her loft to change her clothes, her eyes subconsciously glancing towards a nearby bench.

And then her heart constricted in her chest, remembering the conversation she had earlier and how she had, for what seemed to be the first time in a long time, felt guilty about how she treated someone.

How she treated Tilly…_Especially Ali—Tilly._

Ivy blinked back tears and shook off the memory of a person she hadn't seen in a long time.

Forget Mother's pet project. She was going to do whatever it took to fix the problem she had created.

Even though Tilly was different, Tilly wasn't Alice. But she was still the shell of the person Alice used to be.

She was the person who believed in Drizella, the person who saw the good when everyone else saw her as damnable.

XX

Detective Weaver, it's nice to see you again." The woman stood up straight, as if this was strictly business and she wasn't just about to ask him for a silly favor.

"Is it? As I recall, the one in dire need of my services is your mother. That's who I answer to. Unless it's important, I'm busy," the man turned back towards the paperwork on his desk, his head lifting up when he heard Ivy stammering.

"I-It's about Tilly."

His eyebrow raised and his gaze went to her eyes as if he was trying to look through her; trying to determine exactly why she had needed his assistance. Or if she were just trying to cause trouble.

"What about Tilly?"

"She…" _Spit it out! It's not a big deal!_ "She just…She did something nice for me, and I wanted to pay her back. But I don't know anything about her, so…I thought you could help."

"You decided to interrupt my busy day because you want to get a gift for Tilly?" He scoffed as he leaned back in his chair, trying to hide the small remnants of a smirk that made its way to his lips.

He was quiet for a moment, and in the midst of uncomfortable awkward silence Ivy decided she would leave. He would be of no help to her.

But as she went to turn away, his voice rang out and the young woman couldn't help but sign in contentment as she received the information she had longed to hear.

"Marmalade sandwiches. The girl loves to eat. Or buy one of her watches. That's all I'm giving you. Now, unless you have any pertinent information on any of my cases," he gestured to his stack of paperwork, "I suggest you leave."

"Are you going to tell Mother about this?"

"Are you going to leave in the next five seconds?"

Ivy didn't give him an answer as she turned and walked out the door, the clacking of her heels tapping against the tile floor fading with each step.

"Well now, that was odd." Weaver muttered to himself, wondering what kind of trouble Tilly had gotten herself into this time.

XX


	2. Chapter 2

XX

"Is there any reason we're trekking through this mucky forest with a," she bent down to examine a flower that had been wilting, one of many in the surrounding area, "sad excuse for a garden?"

She didn't have to look up from the flower to know there were a pair of blue eyes boring into her skull with enough malice to kill her with just one stare.

"Yes," the elder woman who looked like she was about to lecture about plants and freedom hissed through her teeth, "I've brought you here for something other than your distaste for all that is nature. Being cooped up in that castle with nothing but riches has yet to humble you, dear."

They had been walking for a while now, Drizella eagerly following the woman who had called herself Mother Gothel. A woman with strength and power; a woman unlike her mother who had only been weak.

"We have been hiking around for hours. For someone with magic, you sure don't know when to use it, do you?"

The woman's snide remarks ceased when she saw a zap of light emit from Gothel's fingertips.

"While it's a very useful tool, you must remember that magic isn't the only way to get what you want. It's only the means to an end. Now, hush and let Mother think." The woman turned towards a path with bushes and leaves blocking any entrance. It looked eerily similar to the hedges in the Wonderland maze Drizella had only momentarily seen during their trek.

"Dead end?" The woman with the dark hair and long braid sneered.

"Your perception for someone with such magic is trifling." The older woman waved a hand over the blocked path and was met with a passageway to what appeared to be a tall tower in the middle of nowhere.

Drizella paused from walking any further as she took a gulp of air when staring at the tower. She had never seen it before, but she knew how much torment this place could bring..

Her mind flashed back to her mother's screams in the dead of night, waking up her father after having nightmares of this wretched place.

"Are you going to trap me in here?" _Just as you did to mother. As you almost did to Anastasia_.

Gothel began to laugh and shake her head. _With the annoyance you've been to me of late I have deeply considered it_. "No, I'm not going to lock you in here. In fact, here is where you will learn your first lesson."

"How to scale a tower? Or was it how to properly tend to a garden? Because that could seriously use some work." She kicked at some of the fauna on the ground, noticing how high some of the grass seemed to be, how it nearly came up to the top of her calf.

"Don't be stupid, child. I'm going to teach you the most important lesson you will possibly ever learn."

"Oh? And what exactly could I learn from an old building that used to house my mother prisoner?"

Gothel snapped her fingertips and the dark-haired woman before her became ingulfed in a black smoke.

"How to survive without magic, dear."

The last thing she saw before Drizella faded away was a look of fear on the woman's face.

_Perfect._

XX

Love and children.

The easiest things to manipulate and the two things people would do anything for.

'_I want him to love me!' 'I need you to save my daughter!'._

In her mind, children weren't considered people. They were underdeveloped minds that could be twisted and warped; a means to an end.

Drizella wasn't that young, but she was still a child. She was still that little girl pining for a mother's love, looking for affection that had been lost to time and heartbreak.

A mother's devotion for one child had outweighed the adoration of another.

It was so easy to attach 'Mother' to the infamous Gothel name and fill the hole in the younger woman's heart that she longed for.

Deception.

So many lives taken away for the sake of magic, of a curse, of wanting nothing but to be free from their past mistakes and tribulations.

Of course, all magic came with a price, and all sacrifices to that price needed a gentle push.

Just like Drizella.

_The Guardian._

_Power that will be mine, and all I have to do is wait. _But to the witch, waiting was nothing. Her mind drifted to the past, waiting in that tower for so long for her freedom, remembering the subtle cries of a child that had granted her the pleasure of being released into the outside world.

Taking on Drizella, using her to cast this curse, waiting for a chance when she could possess the most powerful magic in all the realms. The wait was worth it.

_Stupid child._

Gothel smiled as she remembered the primal fear on her protégé's face as she thought she was going to be locked in that tower just as her mother had been.

"But you're much weaker than she is, dear."

Her mind thought back to Rapunzel; a worthy adversary.

"What you're going to find in there," she whispered to herself, "is what happens to people who are weak. But maybe…Maybe meeting _her_ will change the course of your plans."

She couldn't help the wicked grin on her face.

_And play right into mine…_

XX

"No!" It had been the last thing the young woman screamed before she was engulfed in black smoke, whisked away to a prison she was sure she would spend the remainder of her life in.

Her heart hammered in her chest as her eyes came into focus with her surroundings inside the stone confinement.

_Gothel…Gothel was free. So why did she need to lock me in here? What does she expect me to do, scale the place from top to bottom like my mother once did?_

_Okay, relax…Breathe._

She thought back to her time in the woods with the other witches, a time when she had killed that blonde girl who had tried to kill her.

There were worse moments she supposed than being cooped up in a tower.

She finally decided to look around, her eyes adjusting to the bright light of the room. The sun had illuminated the entire tower, a change from the depressing bleakness of the world below.

_It's a wonder those plants were dying. All the sunlight is trapped in this room._

Drizella had expected the tower to be filthy from years of inhabitance. She expected to see a substantial number of cobwebs covering the walls, decay and rot on the furniture.

But to her surprise, the place was quite clean.

It was as if someone had still resided in this lonely tower with no possible escape; a looming worry in her own mind as she thought of how she was going to get out of this situation without being able to use magic to free herself.

A soft footstep made her jump, turning around to see a blonde assailant around her age with a frying pan in her hand. The woman swung it once, threateningly.

"Who are you?" The young fourteen-year-old girl asked, narrowing her eyes and taking a step forward to take another swing. "And how the bloody hell did you get here?!"

"I-I'm…"

"A witch?! A demon? Are you her? Are you that awful woman who trapped me in here? Nice disguise. Looking to befriend me and trick me like you did to my Papa?"

The girl swung again and Drizella jumped back, knowing if she wanted to the girl would have hit her.

"I'm not here to hurt you!"

No matter what she had said, she knew the young woman wouldn't believe her, she was too scared.

But so was Drizella.

Deciding to stop her assailant and wondering how she was going to do so without magic, she quickly scanned around for anything that could be used as a weapon. After glancing around the room, unable to find something suitable enough to defend herself with, her eyes adverted to her feet. _That'll work…_ she reached down to the heels she had been accustomed to wearing and quickly took one off, throwing it at her attacker. It hit the blonde in the shoulder, and she dropped the pan; the iron cooking appliance hit the ground with a loud twang, making the room eerily quiet.

"Now, will you please listen to me?!" Her eyes reached the young woman's, who was squeezing her shoulder in pain.

"You come into my prison and think it's okay to throw a shoe at me?! Are you mad?!"

"I'm not the one that tried to attack you with a frying pan!"

"Well I'm not the one that has never been in this place before and waltzes in here like she has magic! Only three people have ever been in this place. Me, my Papa, and the witch who cursed us. How did you get in here?"

She almost made a remark about her mother but decided against it. A stranger didn't need to know her family history.

"I…I _had_ magic." She thought of the woman who took it away and wondered if that was the witch the young woman had mentioned. "A witch took it from me and cast me in here…Why, I'm not sure…" _To teach you how to survive without it, but that's not something you need to tell her right now. She could be working for Gothel, a way to spy on me to see if I'm being obedient._

"Well, you don't really need it. You're pretty good at throwing shoes," the young woman tried to smile, but it came out as a wince as she grabbed her shoulder.

"Here, let me see," the dark-haired girl noticed how the inhabitant of the tower backed away, as if she didn't trust her. Smart girl. "I don't have magic, remember? And if I am stuck in this place then why would I want to hurt you?"

She could see the other girl relax a bit, staying in one spot as she let the woman examine her. "Have you had experience with this type of thing? Assault by footwear?"

The soft English tone of the woman's accent had been pleasing to Drizella's ears. She almost had forgotten the question the blonde asked when she heard the woman clear her throat and try to back away from her touch.

"Sorry. Yes. My mother…" She sneered, rolling her eyes. "Let's just say I've had more than just a shoe thrown at me."

She couldn't quite make out the look on the young girl's face. It had gone from confusion to a mild understanding, to confusion again and finally to something that seemed almost like sadness, yet a bit like pity.

"Don't. Don't pity me," came the growl as she backed away from the woman. But a soft touch on her wrist made her look up into eyes that were a shade of blue she had never seen before.

"I'm not. I…I don't understand it. I don't think I ever could. My Papa isn't that type of man. But…I know it's not right. I can't pretend to know what you're going through, or how to feel about it. All I could ever give you, if you wanted it, is a listening ear. My Papa used to say 'Starfish, if you let your emotions control you then you'll lose yourself to a darkness greater than the problems you're trying to run from. Sometimes it's better to let it all out than bottle it all in'."

Tears threatened to appear in the corner of her eyes but Drizella held them back. Now was not the time to be weak. Pushing the collar of her blouse to the side, she noted the bruise she left on the woman's shoulder and her mind flashed back to a similar moment in her life.

_Anastasia would have never sniveled at something as insignificant as a broken violin bow. Get off the floor. I already told you, what happened was an accident. Now clean up this mess and get out of my sight. And I expect that shoe to be polished, free of any blood stains or scratches. Remember my dear, when you don't obey, worse things than trivial gifts by pitiful people get destroyed._

"Hello? Hellooo?"

Drizella blinked, noting she was holding on to the woman's shoulder a lot longer than she probably should have. With a flush in her cheeks, she let go and cleared her throat. "I can um…bandage that for you."

"Thanks. That would be mighty kind of you miss…Miss…Erm…"

"Drizella. And I don't think I can continue to be of assistance to you unless I know your name as well," _Real smooth._

The blonde gave a wide grin as she nodded. "Alice." She reached out her hand and the witch looked at it confused.

"You're supposed to take it, silly. It's called a handshake. Papa says it's what you do when you're first meeting someone. He says you always grab their hand, and not their hook if they have one."

"Um…Why would someone have a hook for a hand?"

"If a crocodile bites it off, of course!"

Drizella giggled and Alice huffed, "you don't know many pirates, do you?"

She grabbed the woman's hand and shook it, signifying, to Alice, the beginning of their friendship.

"Not a single one. But it sounds like you do."

"Just one. Very famous. Best pirate out there! Sailed through all the realms with his crew by his side! Never gives up on an adventure because he has to fight for the treasure he wants most."

"And what treasure could that be? Gold? Silver? Money? Fame?"

Alice walked to a corner of the room and took out a small brown wooden box. She opened it to reveal several vials of sand and earth, each color different than the last.

"No. Adventure. Something to bring back to someone he loves most."

"Really? That's quite a risk to go through. What's this pirate's name?"

Alice grinned with pride as she turned to a chess piece on the mantle of her dresser next to her bedside.

Her smile seemed to faulter for only a moment, but she decided sob stories were meant for different times than first meeting a friend.

"Killian Jones."

XX


	3. Chapter 3

XX

He had been up all night working on a case that had haunted him for nearly a decade.

Sleep had never come easy anymore. When it did, he was plagued with nightmares of a girl reaching out to him, calling his name, asking for help. And then a woman would appear before him. A woman with blue eyes and hair of all sorts of colors, braids of all lengths surrounding her thin framed face. She smiled at him, and he wasn't sure if it were sweet or cunning because if it were the latter it would make sense. He would be mad at his old self too, a drunk who was unable to care for anyone but himself. A drunk who let a young girl be taken; who was responsible for her demise.

"Eloise!" He would wake up, screaming, absent-mindedly reaching for a bottle on the floor that was non-existent because he wasn't that man anymore.

_No…_ He thought to himself, washing his face in the sink of the bathroom at the police station, _sleep doesn't come easy anymore._

It was early. When he had come in, he thought someone would be here already. _Crime never sleeps _they had always told him in his rookie days_._ But he was surprised to see that the lights were off and not a soul was inside the building. There was no smell of coffee wafting through the halls, no chatter or laughter about criminals who thought they were smart enough to evade police capture.

Perhaps during this time, silence really _was_ golden.

He went to sit down at his desk, noting that his coffee mug had been moved and his chair had been turned around. When he went to put his hand on the chair to turn it back so he could sit in it, it moved on its own showing a wave of blonde hair belonging to none other than Tilly, Weaver's homeless informant.

"Good morning detective!" She all but whispered, her arms splaying above her head in a ta-daa motion.

He jumped, his fake hand pressed against his heart in shock as he realized he probably didn't need the morning coffee to wake up anymore.

"Tilly? What the hell are you doing in my office?! It's almost 6 AM!"

"Isn't it obvious? Sitting in your chair. Thought I could get the Detective Rogers' experience! The question is, what are _you_ doing in your office?"

"It's _my_ office!" He answered, obviously annoyed with her antics.

"Detective, it's a little early to be working for Ms. Belfrey, isn't it? I would probably guess she's not even awake yet. Weaver probably won't come in for another two hours. I think he knows her schedule by heart now. So why are you up so early when the entire world is missing out on the beauty of it?"

"Not that it's any of your business, but I do have a life and work outside of dealing with Victoria Belfrey's personal problems and Weaver's constant desire to command me to do his tedious bidding. So, now that I've answered your question, would you _please _tell me why you're here? And please tell me it's not for another chess match!"

A flush appeared on Tilly's cheeks and she bit her lip, staring down at his desk.

"Hello? Tilly?" _Did she really come here at the crack of dawn to play chess?_

It took her another minute of silence before she blurted out "I'm…I'm having girl problems, okay?!"

Her outburst had stunned him for a moment as the question replayed itself in his head. "I don't think I'm the right person to…Maybe Roni could help you with…" Now it was his turn to appear flustered.

"No, not _those_ kind of girl problems. My God, you're just as nonsensical as Henry Mills!" She looked back up at him and sighed, noting how his eyes slightly narrowed, "…sorry. It's this girl…"

"Oh…_Oh!_" Tilly finally saw her words prompt the lightbulb in his head to turn on, "well, that may be something I can help you with."

"She's…I don't know, it's not even that I like her or anything. She's the saddest person in the world. Seriously, Detective," she noticed his smirk, challenging her as if it weren't true, "she appears to be headstrong and powerful and passive, and just so frustrating!"

Rogers noticed how her hands balled into fists, as if she had an altercation with this woman recently,

"But…" She continued, "she hides herself, her true self, away from everyone. Like she's trying to run away from her problems instead of facing them head-on. I tried to be her friend, and I tried to help her but…She just pushed me away. And I may be homeless, but I'm not…I'm not a burden, am I?"

He noticed the slight tremble in her voice, as if she were trying to hold back tears. "Tilly…" He walked behind his desk, moving some papers around so he could sit on the wooden frame before putting a hand on her shoulder and squeezing it comfortingly.

"You're not a burden. You're…In my chair, at my desk at 6 AM in the morning when everyone else is asleep, but you're not a burden, love. You just see the good in people when others can't. And let's be honest, that's a trait that not many people in this world have. People are so quick to label good or evil. If you start doing the same, you wouldn't be yourself. You'd be just like everyone else. And to be honest, I find everyone else rather boring."

He smiled at her and she could feel herself beaming, nodding her head. "Yeah, me too."

They locked eyes for a moment, Tilly feeling a pull to the man before her, like he had been a long-lost family member she was seeing again for the first time in a long, long time.

Rogers cleared his throat, breaking eye contact and speaking up again.

"You could try again, you know. Being her friend, letting her know that she's not alone in this world. And if she shuns you away again, then you know that people like her aren't meant to be deserving of your courtesy."

Tilly, pondering on his words for a moment, stood up and pushed the chair back, nodding with a smile, "thank you." She whispered. She reached into her pocket and pulled out a chess piece, fumbling with it in her hand.

"Take this…" She handed him the white horse and noticed the confused look on his face as glanced at the marbled piece.

"What's this for?"

"For being my knight, a hero when I needed it most."

"I appreciate the sentiment, but if you give me this piece then who will you play chess with?"

"Detective? _You're_ the only person I play chess with. So, I suppose if I ever want to play again, I'll just have to ask you for another rematch?"

"Yeah, love, I'd like that." He grinned, watching as she turned to leave, marveling at the piece in his hands before slipping it into his pocket.

XX

"This is the tenth time I've looked! Where the hell is she?!" Ivy tapped her heel against the pavement, her purse strap hoisted over her shoulder and a white bag, that had been almost dripping with oil and marmalade, in her hand as she looked around for Tilly.

She could hear the horn of a ship nearby, wondering if the only place she probably hadn't looked was where Tilly had been.

_Of course, she'd be near a harbor…_

Upon arriving to the location she had caught Jacinda and Lucy at not too long ago, she could see a tuft of blonde hair, legs dangling over the dock as the woman sitting down watched the faraway ships at sea. Her artbook in one hand, pencil in the other, the eraser part being chomped on as she was deep in thought.

"Tilly?"

The woman, startled from her meditation, turned around at the sound of her name and scrunched her face for a moment. "Miss…Belfrey…To what do I owe the pleasure?"

Ivy had expected the woman to sound harsh, angry, or upset at her for her antics the other day, but she wasn't. In fact, she almost seemed glad to see the dark-haired woman.

"I…I'm…I brought you lunch." She handed the bag over and noticed the bright smile the blonde had given her, a smile that had warmed her—No.

_Not again. I'm not that person anymore._

"What's the special occasion?" Tilly asked, digging into the bag and taking a bite after placing her pencil and drawing pad into her bag. Her grin seemed to widen when she noticed what type of sandwich it was. But it also piqued her curiosity.

"It's…It's just something I wanted to do for you, for being kind to me yesterday." Tilly scooted over so Ivy could sit, patting the ground next to her.

The woman gave her a look of disdain, as if she didn't want to ruin her skirt by sitting on the ground.

The blonde rolled her eyes and took off her jacket, placing it over the invisible wall of dirt the dark-haired woman seemed to fixate on next to her before patting the same area again, this time her palm hitting her jacket, eyes meeting Ivy's as if to tell her she wouldn't ruin her pretty clothes if she sat there.

"Fine." She muttered and sat next to Tilly, who nudged her and called her a princess with a wide grin.

"You do know we're on the edge of the dock, right? Call me a princess again and you're going overboard."

"I mean, you have ta admit, Miss Belfrey, you are kind of a…"

"Ivy." The woman interrupted and the blonde cocked her head to the side.

"My name is Ivy. Please don't call me 'Miss Belfrey', you'll remind me of who exactly that name is connected to."

"Sorry. Ivy." She tested the name, liking how it accented on her lips, and Ivy found she had liked the way it sounded as well. It wasn't rude, overbearing, commanding, or said in scorn.

"And I also…" She couldn't believe she was saying this, but she supposed she did truly owe Al—Tilly an apology. Something just lunch wasn't going to satisfy. "…I wanted to buy that skeleton watch."

She was sure the woman would take her offer and ask for a ridiculously high price for the watch, _probably wanting to buy more of those disgusting sandwiches…_

But as Tilly pulled the watch out of her bag, holding it out to Ivy, she gave a soft grin, not mentioning anything regarding payment. "Here, take it."

"How much do you want for it? I can pay…"

"I don't want your money, Ivy. I don't _need_ money."

"Tilly, if you didn't need money, you wouldn't be selling stolen watches on the street. You'd be living somewhere nicer than on a bench or statue."

"I already told you, why have one bed when you could have many of them? I like to eat occasionally, that's why I sell watches." Ivy didn't know whether to laugh or be stunned. "But this watch? Its special to me. It's something that can't be bought with something as common as money. For taking the time out of your busy day to have lunch with some dirty old street kid, here. I think that's a fair trade."

"I didn't do this just for one of your watches. I didn't have lunch with you so I could get something from you. It's because I was being a bitch to you yesterday. You were only trying to have a conversation and I treated you like a bothersome gnat. And wait—If this particular watch is so special, why did you show it to me?"

_Because you're special to me, _she remembered the same voice saying a long time ago. She quickly shook off the memory and tried not to think of who the person in front of her used to be. Who Ivy so desperately wanted her to be.

"I thought maybe you could see there's more to life than just money when it comes to rare and different things. People aren't always out to get you, or out to steal from you, or to boss you around," Ivy's eyebrow raised at her last statement, "sometimes people just want to show you how magnificent the world could actually be at times."

"And you thought a mechanical contraption worth nothing to the normal person is a way to portray that? To make _me_ see that?"

"On the outside you see something with monetary value. You know what this does, you know it tells time. But what you fail to realize is exactly why things work the way they do. Watch the hands. Watch the gears. It's different, just like some things in the world naturally are."

"You're using a watch as a metaphor for yourself?" Ivy asked, and Tilly could only smile.

"Maybe. Maybe people just don't understand different."

"Maybe they don't. That doesn't mean they can't try…" She realized her faults too late, that this woman who had once been someone she had fallen for was the one person in this godforsaken town with the ability to allow her to show her true self.

When she was around Tilly, all menace had disappeared from her tone. She could see how close their hands were from touching, and it truly had frightened her.

"I…I need to go." She stood up, ceasing any possible contact between them, turning away as she stood.

The blonde was dumbfounded for a moment, trying to form a coherent sentence, anything to keep her new friend from leaving.

"Wait, Ivy…Ivy, don't…Will you…Can I see you tomorrow?" Tilly asked, standing up and grabbing her jacket.

"What?" The dark-haired woman turned to look at the blonde, shoulders sagged, holding her jacket to her like a child who had done something wrong.

"Can I see you again? For lunch tomorrow?" A bit of hopefulness in her voice made the woman sigh in defeat.

She hadn't planned for this to go on any longer, and in only a short amount of time had she begun to revert to a person she never thought she would see again. Hanging out, having lunch, being around Tilly was dangerous. Not only to herself, but to her whole reason for damning them all to this realm free of magic.

But the look on Tilly's face, the same look that could convince her to stop everything, the look that almost had, made her reconsider just this one time.

Besides, she remembered, Tilly wasn't Alice. And hanging around Tilly wasn't something that could break the curse_._

"Sure. Sure. Same place?"

"Yeah, it's a date…Oh wait. Here." Ivy's eyes widened as Tilly took her hand and gently placed the watch around her wrist, fitting the strap into the buckle. "For today. Something to remember me by."

They exchanged glances, both blushing as the dark-haired woman turned once more to walk away.

As reluctant as she was to let her go, Tilly gave a sigh of content as she walked away, sitting back on the dock and flipping a page in her sketchbook, starting to draw a deep set of eyes that had made an effect on her very soul.

XX

She couldn't stop the grin on her face, and she was sure that she would have to soon before mother caught her with it.

But the more she thought about mother, the darker and more twisted her mind had started to become; the more it swayed from the person she was earlier.

Mother didn't want her happiness.

Mother wanted her suffering.

She remembered who she truly was in that moment, remembered why she had done the things that had led her to this point in her life, and why pretty blondes with their different outtakes on life couldn't distract her again.

"I promised her…" Ivy told herself, but a voice in the back of her mind allowed her to remember why things like love were trivial.

_Who could ever love a girl like you? Such a disappointment aren't you. The only thing you'll ever be good for is a cheap lay, and you couldn't even give Prince Gregor that, could you?_

She wanted to scream, to cry out, to get the voice inside her head of the person she despised most to leave. But she knew she never would be able to rid of the voice no matter how hard she tried. It wasn't the true voice of her mother. It was the voice of her failures, following her in the guise of the person she tried so hard to escape from.

Instead of stress herself out to the point of insanity, she tried to ground herself, to make the voice go away.

Ivy glanced at the watch on her wrist, remembering how considerate Tilly had been when she put it on her.

_Tilly is different…Tilly is…She's not like mother…She's…_

"Excuse me?" A voice took Ivy out of her thoughts as she looked up to see a beautiful woman with braided dark blonde hair and rounded glasses staring at her.

The woman was wearing a beanie and had a dark green jacket that accented her green eyes. She seemed to be staring right through Ivy, as if she knew she was the reason for everyone's demise.

"Could you tell me where I could find Roni and Kelly's pub? Or I think it just goes by Roni's now."

Ivy stalled for a moment before opening her mouth to speak, debating on whether to help the stranger or not.

The woman's eyebrow raised and the woman in heels let out a soft sigh, finally deciding to help her, realizing her newfound blonde friend must be rubbing off on her.

"Follow the sidewalk, around the corner, make a left. Big sign. Small town. Can't miss it." She muttered, and the woman gave her a soft smile and a quick 'thanks', before turning around and slinging her ginormous backpack on her back to walk in the direction she had been pointed in.

_That's the thing about Alice, dear. Or wait, in this world, you call her Tilly, don't you? You remember it? The reason why you can't be together…The reason why you'll never let yourself get close to her again?_

The voice of her mother was berating her, and this time, she had agreed with what it was saying.

_Yes…Because she's not mine…_

XX


	4. Chapter 4

XX

When she was a young girl, her mother had taken everything from her before she could even comprehend what was happening.

Or why it was happening to her and not her sister.

Mother had broken her violin bow, claiming it was an accident, thrown her doll in the fireplace (_why do you need that raggedy old thing that you've never appreciated in the first place) _and had shown nothing but contempt towards her since her sister died and father left them (or, so her mother had said).

So, for the first time in her life when she was finally able to have a semblance of fun and be free, she hesitated to take it.

Which had upset her, since it was being offered by none other than Alice Jones.

"It's really easy! All you do is take this piece of cloth and wrap it around your eye like this! Instant pirate!" The blonde giggled, and for some odd reason it was the sweetest sound Drizella had ever heard.

But even the serene noises of her friend couldn't snap her out of her mood.

"Driz? Drizella? It's not as fun playing pirate by myself…" She poked her friend with the stick end of a wooden spoon that was supposed to be her sword. Papa had told her only to use a real sword when she was in danger and when they were practicing.

"Huh?!" The dark-haired woman had snapped out of her spell, noticing the makeshift weapon that had been lightly digging into her arm and pushing it away.

"Hey…Are you all right? You've been quiet all day today. And you've been here for about fourteen nights now. Each one of those days has been an adventure, so why the glum mood?"

"Just…It's nothing to worry about."

"You know you could tell me, it's just us two here." Alice tried to soften the mood, sitting next to her friend and grasping her hand.

Drizella quickly ripped her hand away. "There's nothing to tell! It's no wonder you were locked in this tower! How anyone would deal with you in the outside world is beyond my understanding."

Alice couldn't keep the tears from flowing down her cheeks. "I thought you were my friend."

"I'm not allowed to—I don't have friends. You know what happens to people who try to become friends with me?"

Her mind instantly thought back to Gretel.

"They get hurt. People around me get hurt, Alice! And I don't…" The words were hard to say. She didn't realize that she had been crying too. "I don't want the same thing to happen to you!"

"What…What do you mean by that? You wouldn't hurt me, Drizella."

"I am not the person you think I am. Your father taught you how to protect people, how to protect yourself from people who would do anything to justify their evil deeds. I am not a good person. The things I've done, the things I have plotted for the sake of revenge? It's not what a good person does. And I can't continue to deceive you into thinking I'm some good witch who was stuck here for no reason."

"Drizella…Whatever it is, you can tell me. I know there are good and bad people in this world. I know that just because a person is bad doesn't mean their story has to end that way. My papa…My papa wasn't always this great man. Pirates lie, cheat, steal. But I love him because in the end he chose to give it all up for someone he loved."

"I'm…I'm trying to cast a curse. My mother _abused _me, Alice. She took away every single shred of happiness in my life, and I would do anything to let her feel even an ounce of misery she has caused me."

"Then…you _are_ an evil witch," the blonde muttered, and though she seemed as if she were making a motion to move, she still sat next to the young woman, knowing that if Drizella did in fact have magic, and truly wished to harm her, she could have used it the first day they met.

"Maybe I am. But…I feel like I'm having second thoughts. I want to see my mother suffer, I want to see her in pain. But I'm happy here. For the first time in my life, I'm happy being a person without magic. I feel free. Like nothing here can hurt me. And…it's because of you."

"W…What?" Alice's eyes searched Drizella's own for an answer. Whatever she had expected the dark-haired young woman to say, it surely wasn't that.

Drizella's hand reached up to brush a stray tear running down the blonde woman's cheek. "I never wanted to be this person. I never wanted to kill people to succeed. I just wanted to be free of my mother. I just wanted someone to set me free of her…" She sobbed.

"And then I met you, and you didn't question my past, or who I was. You just accepted me. And I think that's why…That's why I feel safe with you. In this tower, I feel at home with you."

Drizella could feel Alice's breath on her face, could practically hear her own heartbeat thumping wildly in her own ears. She innocently leaned forward and placed a soft kiss on the blonde's lips.

What she didn't expect was for Alice to return it in a way that had asked Drizella what had taken her so long to get the courage to do this.

For a moment they kissed softly, basking in something new that both had yet to experience. Then they started to explore with teeth and tongues until one of them, they both weren't sure who, pulled away from lack of air.

"I…I would stay with you here, forever if I could, Alice Jones," Drizella took the young woman's hand in her own and gave it a squeeze, trying to regain her breath after their kiss.

But forever was a broken promise that had been made too soon as a wave of black smoke engulfed the space where Drizella was sitting.

"Alice! No! I... I lo—" But she was gone, back to the ground below before she could finish telling her friend her true feelings.

She glanced up at Gothel with a scowl and for a moment considered doing whatever it took to get back to Alice.

But then she remembered the truth.

Love wasn't real.

It was only temporary.

And she had a job to do to ensure her mother's suffering.

XX

It was probably not the best way to cope with the fact that Robin Mills had just entered the town of Hyperion Heights, but still, Ivy had to know for herself who exactly she was dealing with.

_Alice and Robin have true love, or did you forget?_

She tried to ignore the voice in her head, her fingers coming up to her lips and remembering the soft kiss of so long ago.

_Maybe they do…But so did Alice and I._

_You didn't cast this curse because you loved Alice, you foolish little girl. You cast it because you couldn't handle not being mommy's favorite. Besides, why would Alice love a wretched creature like you?_

She ignored the voice of her mother and kept on walking.

The door to Roni's bar opened and the owner turned from her conversation with a patron to give her a scowl.

"I'll be right back," she muttered to the man, walking towards Ivy with a grimace.

If looks could kill, the younger woman would be dead.

"Ivy Belfrey. To what do I owe the pleasure?" Roni pulled the woman aside and moved closer to not only whisper to her, but to show as much intimidation as she possibly could. "Henry isn't here, Drizella, so if you're up to one of your schemes, get lost."

"Relax, Regina…Oh, I'm sorry, it's Roni now, isn't it? I had forgotten your cute little bartender name. Funny how the curse works, isn't it? Before you even think about putting those hands around my neck in a place where there are witnesses, I thought you would love to know that I'm not here for your doomed offspring. I'm actually only here for a drink."

"You have enough money, get one at home," the awake woman glared, but Ivy pushed past her.

"That's what I love about your bar, Roni. There's more company here than I could ever get anywhere else."

Not perceiving her as a threat, Roni went back to her conversation, not taking her eyes off the woman for even a second.

She walked over to the bar and sat down, the person serving drinks gave her a familiar smile.

"Oh hey! It's the girl who helped me out yesterday. What are you drinking miss…?"

"Belfrey. Ivy Belfrey. Whiskey sounds perfect. And you are?"

"Margot West. Just got back from a nice little excursion in Timbuktu. You live around here? The name sounds awfully familiar."

"My mother owns Belfrey towers and most of the town." She raised her glass in appreciation. "What brings you back to this godforsaken town R—Margot?"

The woman with the green eyes and rounded glasses raised her eyebrow as if she had caught what Ivy said but shook it off with a smile. "Tired of looking for so much adventure. Thought I'd settle down back at home with my mom and aunt. Well…Kind of aunt. Mom's best friend."

_No, you're right. You just don't know it._

"Anyway, please let me know if there's anything else I can get you, Ivy. Nice to finally meet someone else in this town my age. I've talked to Henry Mills, but he's a bonehead." She laughed and turned to serve another patron.

_You're going to lose her._

The voice was getting louder and louder, and she couldn't help but sneak a glare towards Margot, or Robin, or whatever the hell her name was. She needed to think up a plan, quickly.

Her mother's suffering could wait.

She had already lost her happiness once.

She'd be damned if she were going to lose it again.

XX

"Have you forgotten why you're doing this?" The woman asked, seemingly angry at the younger woman for a change in her plans.

"Yes, for my mother's suffering. But there's something about that girl…That…Margot that can ruin all our plans. If she gets to Tilly…"

"As long as Tilly stays on her pills, we have nothing to worry about."

"_You_ may not have anything to worry about, but you forget who is doing all of your dirty work while you're trapped in my mother's prison."

"To keep the girls apart you're going to wake her? Don't you know who she's allied with? Don't be a fool, Ivy."

"Who? Regina and her weak sister? Regina is already doing all she can to make sure the curse isn't broken. She'll be glad that I'm helping her even further." There was a glint in the young witch's eye, one that even Gothel herself couldn't make out.

_I'll make sure you and Alice will never be together again, Robin. _

"One more thing, if you please. I'm in need of a certain artifact you're so keen on using. Something that can curse two hearts from being near each other."

"You think I can conjure _that_ up in a world without magic?"

"No. I know you can. I've seen what you can do. I've seen how powerful you are. With just a little dirt…"

"You're playing with fire now, dear."

"That's fine. I've been burned so many times that the flames don't bother me anymore," Ivy muttered, walking away from the witch who could only smirk.

_Just one more little push and everything will be mine. Stupid, weak child._

XX

"Where is it?!" She had been running as fast as her legs could take her, large branches cutting her face, vines leaving their marks on her legs, breath visible from the cold surrounding them.

She had no idea where Alice had set up camp. Ever since she had betrayed the woman years prior, she couldn't help but want to see her again to apologize.

_You're casting the curse, why does it even matter?_

_I need to make things right. I need her to know that I'm sorry for what I did. For hurting her, and her father._

It had been a while since she started searching. Nightfall wasn't too far off on the horizon.

"Come on, Nobin! That's not fair!"

She heard the dulcet tones of the woman's voice as she quickly hid behind a tree, peeking out to survey the scene before her.

Alice and a woman their age with dark blonde hair in a braid was hiding behind a pile of firewood, throwing snowballs at the woman. They were both giggling and having fun. The woman must have been a friend.

_Good, she finally looks happy. Free from that prison. Free from what I did to her._ Drizella thought to herself, continuing to watch the two young women attack one another with snow.

She was about to make her presence known when the other girl, Drizella thought her name was Nobin, slipped on a patch of ice and fell on top of the blonde, lips hovering close to the woman's own.

"Can I help you with something, Robin Mills?" Alice asked, and the girl smiled.

"I think you can, Alice Jones."

To the dark-haired woman's horror, they had started to kiss, and she quickly retreated, turning back towards the direction she came.

_Gothel was right about everything…I'm going to cast this curse and do everything I can to leave Alice in the past._

Little did she know; her efforts would be futile.

XX

"Hey, it's Ivy Belfrey. We're kind of closing up, but I can get you another whiskey if you'd like. On the house? For helping me out the other day," Margot smiled, and the other woman smiled back.

"Oh, come on now, Margot! If you're going to give a girl a free drink you can't give her any of that cheap stuff." Ivy walked behind the counter. "How about this? We drink for new beginnings? New friends?"

Margot nodded with a smile and continued to finish closing the bar. "You pour it though? I kind of want to get out of here before midnight."

Ivy nodded with a fake smile, turning away from the woman who went back to cleaning beer glasses and slipped a bit of the awakening potion into the woman's drink the same way she had done with Regina.

"Here, cheers!"

"To new friends?"

"Yes…" She watched Margot take a sip of her drink and couldn't help but laugh when the woman started to look as if she were going to faint. "But more like, to new enemies."

"I didn't think I had enemies…The only person I could think of is…Is…Drizella Tremaine…" Robin coughed, glaring as she dropped the glass in her hands. It fell to the floor and instantly shattered.

"Well hello Robin Mills. Welcome back to the world of the living."

Robin blinked as she took off her glasses, glancing around the bar as the memories from Margot and from her past life in the Enchanted Forest started to come together and help her regain her senses after the effects of the potion wore off.

"Did the curse break? Is Alice…?!"

Ivy noticed how the woman couldn't help but think of Alice first.

_You're making this so much easier for me._

"No, the curse didn't break. I just couldn't chance you and that adorable blonde sharing true love's kiss and waking the whole town up, especially when the fun has just started!"

"What…What are you talking about? Alice isn't awake? She's still…Why wouldn't I wake her up?"

Drizella held up a vial of clear liquid in front of Robin's face.

"Do you know what this is? It's…A cute little trick that's been in my family for years, since my mother was in love with my father. I tried to use it on your cousin, Henry, but my dear step-wench and Alice managed to stop me. If Alice was to get a hold of this liquid…Well, it would separate the two of you just like Alice and her poor Papa."

Robin remembered Alice telling her about the spotted mushroom back in Wonderland. "You wouldn't…"

"Try me. The curse can't break until my mother knows suffering. And if it does break, Henry will die. I wouldn't want you to be separated from your true love forever, but if you even think of stopping my curse and reuniting yourself with Alice? I'll make sure you never get near her again."

"Why are you doing this?" Robin asked with gritted teeth.

_So you'll never take her away from me again._

"Let's just say I'm doing Alice a favor," the witch grinned, and made her way out the door, past Robin who stood there in shock, trying to hold back her tears.

XX


End file.
